Villain, am I?
by lemony.club
Summary: A game engine - D.E.U.S - had been released the public as a new form of entertainment. Due to its breath taking realism in simulating a virtual world, it quickly dominates the industry in only a few days. Endless online games had been upgraded to take advantage of the new system, but the engine isn't limited to VRMMORPG. Warning: Villainous Protagonist. M-Rated.
1. Act I & II

**Villain, am I? (Legend of Zelda)**

 **Disclaimer:** This story is a work of fiction. The character's designs, called name and place mentioned belong to their respective owners.

 **Warning:** Some descriptions might horrify you.

 **=[Villain, am I?]=**

* * *

 **Act I**

Golden aura erupted from the blade edge as it wrestled against the sword of one of the most terrifying enemy the world had ever seen. The sharpness of its polished edge continued to grind against the blade of darkness, creating hazardous jolts of lightning to surge outwards. The weirder of the holy blade – a young, blond-haired boy with deep sharp eyes – bellowed, mustering all the strength in his lower body to push against his opponent, the King of Evil.

His strength was legendary, forcing the King of Evil to stagger backwards. Using the opening, the hero swiftly ran his fingers along the edge of his holy weapon, forming many illuminating runic circles of all sizes and ranks. He then channeled as much of his magic and stamina into the long sword, soaking it in his absolute divinity. With a powerful swing, the legendary blade bisected the weakened demon cleanly.

The demonic entity roared as its upper body fell into the red carpet with a heavy thud, joining the rest of its butchered minions. Blood churned and pooled around its upper and lower body while the boy looked down at it. The defiant in its eyes were never left as it drawled in its last breath.

"Yes! We did it! Suck on that!" the boy, who couldn't be more than fifteen, raised his holy sword high above his head triumphantly. Demonic blood trickled down the hilts, using his fingers as channels and soaked his hand and wrist. The moment his body began to glow, he lowered his sword and faced his party. Their armors and weapons were in worst shape than his, but they were all smiling and cheering.

Most people watching them on the massive holographic screen were cheering them as well. To defeat the great King of Evil with such a small party of four was no easy feat, and they were the first party to conquer the new region. Their legendary status had become ever more legendary.

"Fuck! Fuck! Those guys are first again, Jeremy," the brown-haired boy growled. He ruffled his hair and slammed the table with his upper body, dejected, envious, as the party approached the treasure room of the conquered castle. All his works and planning were for naught. "I swear they are cheating! How the fuck did they reach the throne room so quick? Did someone give them a map to the castle?"

"Dude, you play that game too much. There are other games, you know," I said while rubbing my eyes tiredly. The newest gaming system D.E.U.S had taken a lot out of me even if it was the most realistic simulation to date.

D.E.U.S allowed a player to truly live in a beautiful simulated, breathing virtual environment to the point that death felt very, very real. A player would not die – at least there were no confirmed cases in social media – but the mental trauma from being burn alive or blasted into bits did require some psychological help afterward.

How the government approved of such a gaming system was up to much scrutiny, but considering the cooperation behind the funding and development, there were several theories. The most popular was that D.E.U.S was initially designed for military purpose, allowing the user to operate unmanned drones and armored suit in extremely high-risk zones. That was true enough.

What many did not know was that when the boards of directors – very old men – realized that it could be used for other more pleasurable form of entertainment at home, D.E.U.S instantly became a luxury due to its massive size and power requirement. That did not stop the insanely rich from commissioning an enormous skyscraper-size machine on their private island. Anything happened within the simulated world remained in the simulated world was a good incentive. The real world could not compared to one in which they were practically Gods.

"Tired? I'll just sleep in game," my best friend answered. He looked like he hadn't sleep in several days, which equated to several weeks in the game he was playing. Perception of time was also what had made the system insanely popular. Depending on the setting, a person could spend years and years in a virtual world while only a few days had passed.

"You're an idiot," I replied with a disapproving headshake. While my body was physically fine, my mind was extremely fatigue. Even at time compression of 1 to 20, one hour equivalent to 20 hours in game, I was already mentally exhausted. Some players played at 1 to 10000 (1 minute equivalent to a week). It had something to do with high IQ or individual brain's processing power from what I gathered in class.

"I'm going to find something to eat," I said. "You want anything?"

"Not really. Maybe a sandwich," he said and leaned back against his seat before taking a sip out of his energy drink. After stretching his stiff arms a little, he opened his pad and looked over his plan for when his turn became available again. There was great demand for using D.E.U.S, but since it was beginning to be deployed to the general public as another form of entertainment, there were a long queue, several in facts depending on what you were using it for. To prevent everyone crowding in a single spot shouting, tickets were introduced. I checked the ticket in my pocket to make sure it was still there before heading off to find something to eat.

When I got back with lunch with his sandwich, my buddy was gone. Since he'd left, the perfect spot was taken by another group. They were busy chatting away, unconcerned with me frowning at them. I found a nearby small bench to sit since everywhere else fully occupied.

"Did you see those girls!? Taking out an elder dragon like it was nothing! I couldn't even see their stats at all."

"Do you see girls anywhere here? They're guys! Guys!" one of them retorted despite there were girls wandering about. There were more girls here than boys if someone bothered to count. "And the reason why we can't see their stats is because their level is way higher than us. Luke here is only at 83 and he couldn't see their level, let alone their stats. That mean they should be like level 120 or higher."

"Fuck! 120!? Isn't the game just released like a couple days ago?"

"So? I went from 1 to 50 in a single day. It's not hard to reach my level if you find a good spot and grind for experiences and gold. It's only hard to level up after becoming three digits, and dragons are nothing compare to elementals. Those things can only be hurt with magic! One of them took out a party of six, and they still gained two levels despite getting slaughtered."

"Huh? Don't you lose experiences when you die?"

"You don't lose experience in the first region. You only lose 50% of your gold," Luke said. "That's why I told you guys to use all your gold to buy potions. You don't lose item when you die, and before you die, try to spam as much attacks as possible. You get bonus experiences for how much damage you do. Even if you can't kill them, you still get plenty of experiences for trying."

"I didn't know that… hey, wait a second. Didn't someone say it was a glitch? They gained a level after they die."

"Not a glitch. It's a way to help newbies and those who are in support class. Everyone thought it was a bug, but it was intentional. My dad works there so trust me," Luke said and pointed at the skyscraper in the distance. It was the company behind Acadia Online. They were converting their flagship game into a true simulated virtual reality using D.E.U.S engine.

I thought about joining Acadia Online at first since I wasn't sure, but once I saw the publicly available list, my mind was completely blown away. There were simply so many available. Every company wanted on the hype of D.E.U.S before it died down, which only made the hype even more inflated. The engine was almost a flawless system and the world it constructed and extrapolated was simply stunning.

Everything within the game looked and felt real.

Interestingly enough, battle or war centered game plummeted in popularity as time passed due to the realisms of the system. Not only blood and gores were nauseating to come in contact with for most, nobody in their right mind would want a peaceful village they had lived in and traded with for months (years) get wiped out in ensuring battles. Magic, especially area-type ones devastated cities, and they weren't necessary the one who casted it either.

Previously massively online games like Elder Scrolls and World of Warcraft were absolute mind boggling to be a part of due to their sheer scope, getting critical acclaimed on their first day of release on D.E.U.S with millions of players, but after a few years in game, wide spread destruction were everywhere. Half of the simulated world was desolated wasteland due to permanent destruction caused by players and monsters. Furthermore, NPCs population was devastated, but since they were NPCs, no bodies really care in the end.

"We should join Sword Art Online," one of them continued while my mind wandered. "Heard it got tons of area to explore; the world map is as big as Earth with the latest update."

"Bigger if you counted other realms like elves," another boy pointed out. "You can go yourself. Getting killed in there really hurts and you die a lot! They didn't bother to lower down the feedback. Heard they can't any way since it tied to the simulation. If they dumb it down then nobody would feel anything in game, making it shit. Oh – look like one of the booths got freed up. Later guys~"

I noted my ticket was also shown up on the screen and swiftly leave the waiting area. Without my buddy there, I feel like I was out of place. Everyone grouped up together, chatting to each other while I was all alone, eating my sandwich.

"Welcome to D.E.U.S Entertainment System," a girl in her early twenty greeted. Her name was Marge from the red name tag with gold border. "May I see your ticket?"

"Sure can," I said and produced a game card instead of a ticket. Game card allowed me to save game. I swiped it across the console at her request as these cards were quite expensive and she didn't want to be blamed on damaging them. It beeped and illustrated some information on the holographic display in front of her. The girl smiled at me and gestured me into a room.

"Please enjoy your stay," the girl said and showed me how much time I have left.

"This looked slightly different," I said as I noticed the interior of the room was slicker and smaller than the last one I was in. Maybe they found the extra space was wasteful and compact everything? I got on the full body chair. Gizmo within winded up as soon as I got comfortable in my seat. It eventually locked my arms and legs in place to prevent me from thrashing about and injured myself. A tingling sensation in the back of my neck was felt before started to doze off into sleep. My mind began to dive into the virtual space.

 ** _Welcome to D.E.U.S._**

"Search for WreckYourAss6996," I queried the AI before it even introduced itself. I didn't want to waste precious minutes listening to the boring tutorials that popped up all the time. I wanted to know if my buddy was in his game. It did not matter if I misspelt his id or not. Speaking was really unnecessary.

 ** _WreckYourAss6996 is currently in Dynasty Realm  
Would you like to join?_**

"Yes," I said and thought the same thing. Dynasty Realm was historical fantasy, taking place in mythical, ancient china. It was barely historical since all kind of nonsense monsters roamed freely while NPC could do some amazing things. It felt like one of those Xian Xia fantasy novels where the MC spend lots of time cultivating Qi just to be powerful. Well, the winning condition was to be a God while killing all your rivals after all. There could only be one winner. It was even on their game's slogan.

 ** _CNVisual has disabled registration_**

"Seriously?" I uttered. Some companies had disabled new registration due to influx of players as well as hackers – mostly hackers. Since they didn't know the full potential of D.E.U.S as its development was a secret, there were many ways to get ahead and cheat the system as long as you had the brain power to do it. "Connect to WreckYourAss6996."

 ** _Requesting connection… WreckYourAss6996 accepted._**

"Hey," I said as my vision shifted. The system began to illustrate the world of Dynasty Realm in my brain while simulating my sensors; a majestic feeling wrapped around me while fresh, heavenly air streamed over my frame. I was standing on the cliff side. Fear of height gripped me instantly.

"Shit man," I uttered and backed away from the edge lest I wanted to fall off and died a horrible death. I quickly scanned the surrounding and noted that my friend was hanging off the side. "I thought you were going to play Final Fantasy?"

"I was, but it's jam packed with a bunch of idiot kids," he replied with a weary sigh. "I didn't want to waste time and wait in line so I joined this game instead. But what the fuck is with everyone here? They all tried to kill me off the bat immediately, including the NPCs."

"Haven't you read the review? Everyone is a cut throat in this game," I said with a smirk. Recalling what I'd read in monthly gaming magazine, I continued. "You can only win if you actually cheat or become a scum to everyone. If you're playing normally, it will take forever to level up. There's no party system in this game either so you're basically alone."

"Oh… no wonders I kept fucking getting robbed and beaten for no fucking reason," he sighed and pulled himself up from the cliff side. He stood upright and brushed his sect's robe. "Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome," I said. I couldn't help him even if I wanted anyway. I was simply an observer.

"If this game wants me to cheat that badly then I will fucking cheat!" he roared at the sky. "Cash shop!"

"Heh," I mused. Cash shop was the easiest way to cheat as cash items were basically approved hacks. If a player didn't want to grind for a long time, an item that boosted experiences and gold gained could be brought with real money. Cash item could not be taken by other players under normal circumstances so they were perfectly safe to carry.

"Hey, you're going to join or not?" he asked when he noticed my observer status. I explained that the registration was disabled at the moment. "Oh, I thought it was weird that no new player joined. I have to deal with these stupid aggressive NPC. Just looking at them gets me into trouble."

 ** _WreckYourAss6996 has transferred 60,000 GP_**

"Eh? What was that for?" I asked once a popup appear. 60,000 GP was quite a bit of money for someone like me, but for him, it was merely chump changes.

"For when you are able to join," he responded with a wide grin. His fragile body glowed golden when his avatar's innate talent rose rapidly, making his growth to explosive level. "Legendary stats boost! Lucky slot! I'm going kick everyone's ass in this world! Fucking making fun of me for all these months! Want to watch?"

"Alright," I said, humoring him. After a few months watching him playing the game, I got bored and said my goodbye. I returned back to the menu screen. "How much time do I have left?"

 ** _112 minutes, 39 seconds_**

"Cool, plenty of time left," I responded and checked some newest releases on the global forum. Rarely anyone on the forum since spending time on the forum meant they weren't living the dream, and global forum was in real time as it connected to the real world. Wasting a minute on the forum meant wasting several months in game, but there were some hidden gems on there every now and then.

"Beta tester request?" I asked and opened the thread to read. It was a standard request, outlining what was required of the tester along with some attachments. "Single player game? Pffph… pretty boring. No wonder no bodies sign up in here. Who the hell want to play single mode anymore?"

I scrolled down the page and noted the game's name. "Heroes of Hyrule?" I read a bit of the description and smirked. "Based on the Legend of Zelda huh? That's kind of out of date. Hmmm…"

 ** _Heroes of Hyrule  
Accept?_**

"Eh…" I murmured. I thought about clicking on the invitation, and the confirmation popped up due to my mental command. "Well, I spend a few minutes to check it out. How much time do I have left now?"

 ** _45 minutes, 33 seconds_**

"Shit! I spent too much time on the forum," I cursed. Quickly minimized all the popups on the screen, I went to join several games that I had accounts on. Time flew by while my body remained in suspended animation. I eventually returned to the screen after feeling mentally exhausted. Several years had gone by in my mind while my body experienced only a few hours. D.E.U.S could be used as a teaching tool at school if its core wasn't so massive. I checked how much time I have left.

 ** _1 minutes, 11 seconds._**

"Time to log out then," I said and closed any tabs I still had opened.

 ** _Heroes of Hyrule  
Accept?_**

"That's still here?" I questioned. I shrugged and accepted. One minute was enough for me to check out the game. It might be interesting. The moment I accepted, all the menus before me faded to black. My vision also shifted to blackness. I blinked – several times.

"Hey! Hey! Listen!" a glowing bluish-white light floated in front me. It had two wings protruding from its back. "I'm a fairy."

"No shit," I snorted. Nostalgia filled me as I recalled some of the Zelda games I had played. It reminded me of that annoying fairy. Actually most fairies in the series was pretty annoying. "I'm going to call you Navi."

"My name is Assist," the fairy said.

"Shut up Navi," I snorted. All NPC in D.E.U.S had strange personalities. It was quite easy to create an AI using the system due to its plethora of preset traits one can choose from. "So I'm going to be kid Link huh. So boring… where's the naming screen anyway?"

"My name is Assist," it asserted. "I was design to assist in making this game better."

"Alright, Assist, can I get in the game now? I'm not a novice you know," I said. I was wasting time, and if I idling too long, I might be disconnected from the system.

"Is playing as Link boring?" Assist asked.

"Sort of," I said. The Legend of Zelda had never allowed a player to alter the physical appearance of its main hero – Link. "He's too predictable. I would like to play as someone else and go on a different quest, like… I don't know, Zelda for example. Anyway, show me the menu already."

"…" Assist paused. It froze in midair as if it tried to process something. A confirmation popped up in my head a full minute later. What kind of computation that needed a whole minute to complete?

 ** _Play as Goddess of time, Zelda?_**

"Uh…" I was stunned. The game actually allowed me to play as Zelda instead of Link. That would be interesting – very interesting, but I wasn't into gender bender like most gamers. "Assist. Isn't Zelda a girl?"

"Zelda is classed as female of her species," Assist said. "If you are uncomfortable, the male gland will remain."

"Ugh… no thanks," I said. The confirmation window vanished before another one popped up.

 ** _Play as King of evil, Ganondorf?_**

I widened my eyes slightly. Playing as the villain was rarely available even by the current standards of gaming. True, a player could be evil and do evil things to drop their alignments into the negative, but their class and identification was always that of a hero. They were simply called chaotic heroes if they did bad things excessively. To be true villain was new to me.

"Accept! Accept! Hell yes, let me play as Ganondorf!"

The window vanished as the world shifted around me. Assist had also vanished. After several minutes, I realized I was closing my eyes. I slowly opened them and noted that I was in room. I raised my hand and clenched it tightly with a wide, devious grin. My skin was green, infused with magical power. I stood up and felt I could tower over everything sight.

"Quest," I commanded when checking myself in the mirror.

 ** _Primary Quest: Eliminate the Hero  
Optional Quest (locked)_**

"Nice," I told myself after detailed information entered my mind. The hero was obviously Link from the way the quest menu had referred to him. "What was the Optional Quest anyway? Well, whatever, I'll go and eliminate the hero huh! Let's see how quickly I finish this game!"

Finding the hero (Link) wasn't that hard considering the marker pointed directly to where he was: the Kokiri forest.

* * *

 **Act II**

"Is this a remake of Ocarina of Time?" I asked as I watched my minions invaded in the forest and hunt down little kids, who scattered. They were little kids even if they were immortals, and as for my minions, I didn't really know any of their names. I simply called out and they came, and the title next to them was what type of monster they were.

"Several of our men had been defeated," a moblin said. I stared at him for a moment. They were kind of ghastly in high definition.

"And why are you still here?" I asked with a raised brow. He quickly made haste towards where his kinds were getting killed. I followed afterwards since it was fairly obvious who was killing them. Link was just a little kid, defending his friends with sword and shield in his hands.

"Primary Quest," I said as I watched him fight.

 ** _Primary Quest: Eliminate the Hero_**

"Meh, whatever," I responded and formed an orb of darkness in my palm. I blasted it forwards, but Link, being very nimble for his age, dodged it with little effort. The shadowy orb crashed into one my minions, turning it into nothing. The ground he stood became a crater.

"A hero doesn't die that easily huh? Cool," I said and drew my swords. I charged at the young boy with the desire to eliminate him. Being a villain and final boss of this entire game, I automatically was already powerful – far more powerful than a child who just started his quest. That was kind of out of whack. My enchanted blade, infused with magic, broke his weapon and turned his wooden shield into splinter.

"Link!" the little girl he was defending blocked my second strike with her body.

 ** _Optional Quest: Sage of Forest Eliminated (Completed)_**

I honestly didn't check the updated notice when my blade drowned in blood. Even if she was an NPC, her abrupt death left me speechless. My slash could split boulders with ease, and when strike against a body of a child, the child was everywhere – pieces of her.

"Saria," Link called out in utter shock. There was burning anger in his eyes. It was the first time I heard him actually said anything. He charged at me (without any weapons).

"Fuck off, you stupid kid," I said and blasted him into oblivion along with a chunk of the ground. Several of my minions vanished as well.

 ** _Primary Quest: Eliminate the Hero (completed)_**

Dusts fell from the sky as I read the new notifications. I got some experiences for actually killing Link, but the amount was negligible considered my current stats. There was no actually level in this game as far as I could tell, but my health and mana was insanely high. They got a little bit higher.

"Quest," I said.

 ** _Primary Quest (new): Eliminate the King  
Optional Quest (new): Eliminate the Princess  
Optional Quest (new): Eliminate Sage of Fire  
Optional Quest (new): Eliminate Sage of Water  
Optional Quest (new): Eliminate Sage of Shadow  
Optional Quest (new): Eliminate Sage of Spirit  
Optional Quest (new): Eliminate Sage of Light  
Optional Quest (new): Destroy Kokiri Forest_**

There were quite a bit of optional quests added to the list. "What would happen if I eliminate the King, I wonder? Will a new hero appear to stop me? This is kind of fun… except for the part about murdering children. That was a bit nauseating."

"You," I said, pointing at one of my shivering minions. I blew up half of my men in a single blast so they were very frightened. Simulation of fear was very well done. Was it the coding or was it the engine they were using?

"Yes… master?"

"Burn this forest, and kill everyone," I ordered before teleporting away. I didn't want to see the killing since it probably leave a bad taste in my mouth. It didn't take long for a new notification to pop into my head while my health and mana bar increased further.

 ** _Optional Quest: Destroy Kokiri Forest (completed)_**

"Cool," I said. I wasn't really sure if ordering my minions to do it for me would have worked, but as long as the objective was complete, it didn't matter who had done the deed. No new optional quest popped up so maybe they only do when the primary quest was completed. The castle was in frenzy when I got back. I was still a guest so the guards treated me with respect.

"What has happened?" I asked, curiously.

"The princess has fallen ill," one of the guards said. There were great distresses on his face. Everyone I could see was distressed. They seemed to love the princess dearly. Too bad I have to kill her to advance my quest trees. I did have a good idea where the quest was going.

"May I see her?" I asked and took a small potion out. "This is remedy from my homeland. It might help the princess recover."

Seeing my sincere facade, I was taken to see the monarch of Hyrule without actually being searched for any form of weapons. NPCs in this game were sure trusting.

"Will this help my daughter?" the King asked and gestured the servant to use the remedy I'd provided.

"Hmmm…" I wondered about that. It was an exotic health potion from its inscriptions. It might help, but it might not. No idea in other word. I had no clue why the princess had fallen ill, but I recalled enough to have an understanding. I eyed the little brat on the bed while her eyes lid twitched. _So she was having a prophetic dream huh?_

"The princess is waking up," her caretaker said. Her name was hovering next to her as well as her status as Sage of Shadow.

Zelda opened her blue eyes slowly and stared up at Impa. She then looked to the side of the bed to her beloved father before widening her eyes at me. She curled back on the bed and pushed herself as far away from me as possible.

"So you saw huh," I said.

"What did you see, princess?" Impa asked while comforting her.

"He… killing the light," Zelda said lowly and tearfully.

"Another one of your visions? When will you stop accusing others?" the King asked, shaking his head in disappointment. "I apologize for my daughter's behavior, King Ganondorf."

"Oh that's right, I'm a King," I muttered softly to myself. Being the only male Gerudo, I was automatically elected as King. How did Gerudo procreated before a male was born anyway? Nabooru came on to Link when he was doing his quest so Gerudo female probably mated with other race. Huh? Why am I thinking about these things anyway?

"Did you say something?"

"Hmmm… I said your daughter is correct. I did kill the light," I said, feeling it was unnecessary to play dumb. I could string everyone along before finding each one alone – or –

"Here a dark sphere," I said and toss an orb of destruction at the King playfully. He actually caught it as if it was a normal ball.

Princess Zelda couldn't believe what I had just said. Either she had believed her visions about Link being dead or not, it didn't matter one bit. She screamed in terror as her father exploded right before her very eyes. Impa quickly drew her sword, but I was quicker – much quicker.

"In the face," I said and blasted her head into pulp along with a section of the wall. Impa died instantly, spraying bloods and pieces of her all over the bed and the floor. I was about to kill the princess as well since she was screaming, drawling in the guards from the outside.

 ** _Primary Quest: Eliminate the King (completed)  
Optional Quest: Eliminate the Princess (failed)  
Optional Quest: Eliminate Sage of Shadow (completed)  
Primary Quest (new): Corrupt the Goddess  
Optional Quest (new): Destroy Hyrule  
Optional Quest (new): Open the Sacred Realm_**

"Eh? Why did that fail?" I questioned while guards surged into the room and surrounded me. "Did I have to kill the princess before the King? I should have read the quest's description."

Ignoring the guards, I turned to see Princess Zelda, who was looking at her bloodstained hands, shakily. I couldn't eliminate her now that she became a primary quest's object. Killing her would bring me back to the menu. I didn't want to go back there yet since I wondered what happened at the end of the game.

"Impa… Impa…" Zelda uttered again and again. Great, I traumatized the little brat. Why did I keep calling her a brat anyway? I only met her today – sort of. I felt like I want to squash her when I did though.

"Get away from the Princess," one of the guards demanded.

"Shut up," I responded and shove an orb of destruction into his mouth. His death caused all the guards to attack me. Despite overwhelming numbers, I could waste them very easily. But instead, I grabbed the princess and locked her in my arm. "One more step and I will kill your precious little princess."

The royal brat tried to break free by biting down on my arm. My health bar twitched as if it wondered if it should decrease or not due to me taking damage. In the end, it did nothing.

"Please let our princess go," the guards pleaded, knowing the royal bloodline was in my hand. This was kind of fun.

"I will if you take that sword of yours and put it through your head," I said, wondering if they actually do it or not. It all depended on what kind of traits they had. "If you all did, I will let little Zelda go."

"No, don't do it!" Princess Zelda tried to say, but her scream was muffle by my arm. I didn't let her free her mouth as punishment for biting me. She was still trying too. I then rolled my eyes as I felt lurk warm tears running across my forearm. The brat was crying again.

"Please forgive us," the guards said in unison as they looked at their swords, seeing their own reflection upon the metallic surface, "for we could no longer serve you, Princess Zelda."

Even though I told them to do it, I was speechless when they all killed themselves. Their loyalties were commendable since they were probably programmed that way, but they did it in front of their beloved princess without thinking too deeply upon it. Their deaths would scar her for life – probably had.

 ** _Primary Quest (updated): Corrupt the Goddess_**

"Hmmm…?" I noted the new popup. The title didn't change, but something did. I quickly read through the new description to learn there were many ways to corrupt the young princess. I was disgusted at some suggestions, but due to the flexibility nature of D.E.U.S engine, as long as her alignment moved towards evil, she would be corrupted – my quest would be achieved.

"Ota, Galla, Dari…" Zelda muttered tearfully. I guessed they were the names of the guards.

I dropped the little girl on the floor by letting go my hand, all while smiling. This was really fun, playing the bad guy. I wondered how far I could push the AI to elicit genuine emotions. "I don't go back on my words, Princess Zelda."

Princess Zelda glared up at me. Her blue eyes were completely clouded with hatred. She despised me more than anyone she had ever despised before. For a goddess to hate someone like that, her spirit had been tarnished. She picked up the sword nearby and pointed at me. Her small hands were unflinching.

"Do you want to kill me?" I asked mockingly. "They gave up their lives to save you and for you to waste it here, what a selfish princess. You don't deserve their sacrifice."

My words pierced through her more than any swords could. Her hands quivered and she dropped the sword. Tears constantly streamed out of her eyes. She then bolted out the door, running away from the dreadful nightmare I had created in her bedroom.

Damn I was a bastard, but being evil felt so good with all the heroic craps been going around.

 ** _Primary Quest (updated): Corrupt the Goddess_**

The quest had updated again due to my action. I didn't bother to check it since I had plenty other ways to break her spirit. Goddess or not, she was just a little girl.

"Impa… father…" Zelda sobbed as she ran and ran, passing all the servants and guards as they stared in shock. They ran after her soon enough, asking what had happened. She eventually cowered in her little garden, not saying anything to anyone.

"The King is dead," I said as I entered the scene, looking wounded. "Some kind of dark magic came out of the princess. It possessed Impa, who was by the princess' side. Impa killed the King before engaging with guards. I have no choice… but to put an end to the madness."

They didn't believe me, but there were questions in their mind. Impa did practice dark art, and strangely the princess trusted her explicitly. Their questioning did not take hold since a shadow entity appeared to the side of the garden. It surged forwards and stabbed its deadly claws into one of the servants, ripping her to pieces in seconds. Chaos ensured as noncombatants scattered with guards rushed to defend their princess from the demon.

"Go! I will protect the princess," I said and took position before Zelda could muster the strength to say anything. The guards looked at me and their future Queen before charging to their death. There was nothing on their mind except to protect their beloved monarch now that her father was dead. They would continue to believe the fact until their body was ripped to shred.

"No, stop, please stop, please stop," Zelda begged me desperately as anguish screams filled the garden, making even me flinched. More guards rushed out from the corridors, but the entity I'd summoned was immune to physical attacks.

"Will you run away again?" I asked.

"I won't, I won't, please don't kill any more of my people," Zelda pleaded.

"If you try to run again, I execute each of your subjects one by one for each minute you leave my side. If you tried to kill yourself, I will let all your people comfort you in the afterlife," I whispered into her long ears. She was smart to understand what I'd meant. "Do not test me, little princess."

 ** _Primary Quest (updated): Corrupt the Goddess_**

Zelda lost all fight within her. Even as young as she was, she loved her people, and her people loved her in return – and they became her greatest weakness. She would give up the love of her life for her people in the end of the game despite years of loneliness, showing much of her strengths as a monarch. Hyrule survived after that event so her bloodline did carry onwards.

"Gah!" Another guards perished under the demon before I raised my hand. With much visible effort, I blasted it into dust. I then dropped to my knees, panting heavily – all for show.

"Thank the Goddess that you were here, Lord Ganondorf," a servant called out. Some servants rushed to the princess to see if she was alright. She remained unresponsive after what had happened in her quiet place. In a single day, her world was shattered. Her hopes were grinded to dust.

 ** _Optional Quest: Destroy Hyrule (failed)_**

"Eh?" I murmured while others cheered for me. "Why did that fail? I could still carry it out. Did that now inevitably tied to the princess? Destroying it would mean killing her?"


	2. Act III

**Act III**

The huge Goron roared one final time before collapsing onto the earth. Even though its strength had failed it, its eyes glared furiously at me. Deep seeded hatred ran through those beaded eyes, making me hesitated – why did something like this had to be so real?

"Nothing personal, the quest demands that you die so you must die," I explained as icy sphere swirled in the space between my palms. I didn't bother to let it ask what I was talking about before I freeze it and blast it into sharp shards. A notification popup appeared in my mind while the ice fragments bounced around the cavern.

 ** _Optional Quest: Eliminate Sage of Fire (completed)  
Primary Quest (updated): Corrupt the Goddess_**

I had wondered why the main quest was updated every time I killed one of the seven sages, but I guess the little princess could feel their agonizing death, being their leader and all. She must be sobbing in her room, unable to stop me. I wanted to see her cry – she was always high and mighty in all her incarnation – something else popped up in my mind.

 ** _IceQueen666 wants to talk  
Accept?_**

"Yeah, sure," I said as the communication link was setup. An apparition of a teenage girl wearing some kind of runic outfit manifested near me. She was holding a magical staff with spinning heart. Since her avatar used her real appearance as base, I instantly recognized her without looking at her id. "Hey little sis, what's up?"

"Do you have some GP?" my little sister asked before staring at my new strange look. She had no clue what character I was and didn't seem to care. She didn't let me say anything before shouting: "I need some ASAP! Give me!"

"Nope, I'm out," I lied while rolling my eyes. I wasn't about to transfer her some so she could buy those vanity sets. While they were outfit, without expiration date, they still went out of fashion rather quickly. My parents already frowned on her spending all her allowances on attires that she only wear once, and now she was spending them on virtual ones. Granted, digital wears were way more sexy and exotic than the real ones. They ranged from full body armors to only vines. Her runic outfit covered only the modest spots. If she wasn't my little sister, I would have taken some photos and shared with my buddies.

 ** _Images saved  
Name?_**

"Stop lying, George said he gave you some!"

"If you already know I had some, why did you bother ask?" I snorted and named the photo in my mind and added to my collection. I wondered why George did not give her any money, being her boyfriend – likely he was out. Did he spend all of his cash already? Considering the game he was in last I saw him, he probably would have. Chinese loved to scam us. Korean came second with their stupid grind-fest **_Maple Story MX_**.

"Please, I just need 5k," she pleaded, making puppy eyes at me.

"5k!? Nope, nada," I said. 5,000 GP were a lot of money even if I had over 300k on my account. I'd rarely use any GP in game unless it was to set up an in-game automated shop, and George dumped a bit of GPs on me every now and then – just because he had money to throw around. If I could exchange them back for real money, I would have enough to buy a decent car. Too bad that weren't allowed legally.

"Why!? It's only 5k," she sobbed while stomping her foot. "Stop being so stingy!"

"Because you're going come back in an hour, asking for another 5k; and another 5k after that," I pointed out. She had fooled me twice before, and she wasn't going to fool me again. "What outfit are you buying anyway?"

She looked at me and snapped her fingers. Her clothing shimmered and vanished right before my eyes – maybe I should tell her that she had the privacy setting incorrectly. White, blinding light enveloped her body as it reformed into an angelic outfit with matching set of feathered wings and halos.

With a wide grin, she asked: "do I look pretty in this?"

"Uh huh," I said, checking her out and feeling my eyes burnt to back of my skull due to the majestic light the outfit was emanating. The brightness was insane, and she was supposed to be a dark mage of sort if I remembered. "Just wait until tomorrow then George can gift you it along with several other outfits."

"I can't," she growled, throwing her fists in frustration while the arch-angelic outfit changed back to her previous one. "They are limited! And every one had them!"

"You do know you're a dark mage, right?" I deadpanned.

Dark mage was just a general term for magic users who practiced in the dark art, thus weak against the light. There were thousands of classes that considered dark mage in the game she was playing. It also overlapped with other classes from what I had read. For example, Diablo Dragon was considered as dark mage. Dragon race were magical, and Diablo prefix made them dark, hence dark mage. Diablo Dragonic Paladin was also a possible class. One of the top ranking players was of this divine class.

She stared at me as if I was stupid. "Can I please have 10k, dear brother? I will give you a kiss on the cheek."

"Kiss my ass," I snorted. "Please don't. And wasn't it 5k just a moment ago?"

"I mean 5k," she corrected hastily.

I stared at her before narrowing my eyes as she was up to something. She might have borrowed money from other people and return the favor through various means. D.E.U.S. allowed total anonymity if one chooses. Many players still used their real appearance as base since they wanted to be themselves. Of course, they could change the age of their avatar at any given time. My younger sister was younger than her avatar.

If you must know – sex was possible in virtual space – some people even crafted their second life around their virtual marriage since they lived too far apart in the real world before D.E.U.S. deployments. It also was safe sex as you couldn't really contract any diseases.

Social networking had dominated our lives for hundreds of years. We spent more time chatting to our friends than actually doing anything productive. With D.E.U.S. rapid availability, everyone could now live the life they'd always wanted. Have children with whoever they wanted.

Having children in virtual space was a controversy.

D.E.U.S. was only available for several months, there were quite a bit of controversies surrounding its stances in social media. Considering that some virtual spaces were at time compression of 1 to 10000, meaning decades passed inside while only days passed on the outside. Such high compression gave people hope of immortality. Some even went as far as asking if they could digitize the brain so people could live forever in a world of their choice.

No answer came, but the census was that AIs – or any form of AI found on any servers – were more or less slave, constrained by the environment in which they were programmed to. In other word – sure, we could digitize your neural network and produce an AI that resembled you exactly in every way. It might be incredibly complex AI, but it would never be you, and therefore should never be treated as such.

Nothing could ever replace a human life, no matter how advanced it may be.

So AIs were treated like dirt regardless of how realistic they had behaved, and everyone treated them as commodities. AI mapped after celebrities were the best kind of commodities. In the gaming world, NPCs were no different. NPC, non-playable characters, was just a fancy name for AI. NPC were exploited until GM (Game Masters) decided to erase it and replace it with a brand new copy or a better version. People (players) could not be duplicated, but AI could – should they ever be damaged or corrupted. You could have hundreds of the same NPC but a player truly only had one life.

No one could argue with that.

Speaking of unconventional romantic relationship, I wasn't sure what to think about a player and NPC. The online community seemed to be divided until a fat dude said a NPC was way sexier than his equally fat wife. A shit storm happened afterwards with more people saying they fell in love with an artificial intelligent – girls more than boys since the perfect prince could be created within D.E.U.S. environment.

At the moment, there seemed to be no restriction on creation of AI within D.E.U.S. – allowing everyone to craft a perfect slave/assistant with ease. With such great flexibility, many people had spent years in virtual spaces to map out characters from their anime and movies. Some went as far as creating a virtual space based on the world they came from. People naturally wanted to share the virtual world they had spent countless hours to create. **_Sword Art Online_** was one such case.

"Go away," I said while wondering why I thought so much about NPC. It probably was because I was torturing one for fun. Princess Zelda felt so realistic, but she was simply an AI. Her programing told her what to feel and how to behave under certain conditions. She could never be real because that would make me a monster, wouldn't it?

"Stop being so –

When my sister was forcibly ejected by me, another popup appeared my mind. I looked at me and rolled my eyes.

 ** _IceQueen666 wants to talk  
Accept?_**

"Hell no," I said.

 ** _IceQueen666 wants to talk  
Accept?_**

 ** _IceQueen666 wants to talk  
Accept?_**

 ** _IceQueen666 wants to talk  
Accept?_**

It went on for a while before a different popup appeared.

 ** _IceQueen666 no longer your friend_**

I rolled my eyes and continued out of the cave, blasting some Gorons that tried to ambush me from my blind spot. There were no blind spot. The map in my mind could see everything. A minute later, another popup appeared.

 ** _IceQueen666 wants to befriend you  
Accept?_**

Since my communication was set to private, only those on my contact list could request conversation with me. It was to prevent being spammed with popups and annoying ads. When she unfriended me, she couldn't request a conversation thus required to befriend me again. I ignored her. Soon enough, another popup came up. This one was private messages.

 ** _IceQueen666 sends you a message  
Read?_**

"Nope," I said when more messages flooded my inbox. I winced as the number in my inbox climbed to several hundreds. I opened one to see what the content was.

 ** _Jeremy! Befriend me, you jerk!_**

"If you don't stop, I'm going to block you," I said and sent. A full minute later, another message came back into my inbox while I was deleting the audio messages.

 ** _I'm sorry *sniff* I can't join the party *sniff* if I don't have the outfit *sniff*_**

"You need new friends, little sister," I muttered to myself.

I eventually sighed and open the global inventory. Items in my global inventory could be taken into any virtual environment as long as they were using D.E.U.S. as their engine – so instead of having multiple localize economy, there was only one. GPs was the standard virtual currency across all severs, gaming or otherwise. It could be used to trade anything within the system. Virtual outfits could be used anywhere regardless of whoever had designed them. As long as they were patented, they could be sold.

 ** _Transfer 5,000 GP to_** _**IceQueen666  
Confirm?**_

"Attached this message as plain text: stop hanging about those that only want to take advantage of you. They aren't your real friends. Play with George more often. He might be stupid, but he very sincere in his feelings. And stop asking him for money. It makes us look poor."

I sent her the requested GP along with the attached message. Why do I spoil her? Maybe it was because she was my little sister – my only sibling – so I adored her. The outfit she shown me did look nice despite its light trying to burn my eyes out. I wondered what outfit available in this game.

"Cash shop," I said.

"Hey! Hey! Welcome to the cash shop," a fairy appeared in front of me. "Sorry, but our cash shop isn't connected to the global economy, therefore any item you buy in here will only be available here. Since we are not connected to the global market, we cannot charge GP to player. That is nonnegotiable. Since we cannot charge GP, all items were free of charge."

I stared at the fairy. "Assist?"

"That is my name, call me when you need assistance. No matter what it is, I will come," Assist said. It hovered in front of me. "Who are you?"

I snatched it and gave it a tight squeeze. It struggled in my palm. "Remember who I am now?"

"Of course," Assist moaned in a squeaking tone of voice as its tiny body was being crushed. It squirmed in my palm. "What would you like to buy, oh great King of Evil, Ganondorf."

"Are you being sarcastic?" I asked as I let it go since its voice was getting to me. It sounded like a little kid being choked to death.

"No, no," Assist said, hovering in front of me. "Great Ganondorf has defeated the hero before he could start his journey. The Great Ganondorf has eliminated 5 of the Sages effortlessly. The Sixth Sage is safe because he is protected by the Sacred Realm, but he will be defeated soon. The Seventh Sage is within Great Ganondorf's palm. Her life and death is dictated entirely by the Great Ganondorf. Hyrule belongs to him. All kneeled before him. Long live the King of Evil! Long live the Great Ganondorf!"

I stared at it before laughing. "Hehe, this fairy is pretty funny. I wondered who programmed you. Can I see the cash shop? I want to dress up the little princess and take some pictures."

"Of course," Assist said as a menu appeared in my mind. "We have all kind of outfit for the hero, the demon, and the goddess. Since the Great Ganondorf wants to make a slave out of Princess Zelda, these tools are needed."

I widened my eyes at all kind of torture tools available on the cash shop. "Oi! Is this legal? And what you meant I want to make slave out of her? I'm not into those kinds of things!"

"Since our cash shop is not connected to the global economy, there is no rating system. Since there is no rating system, all kind of items are available for purchase," Assist answered. "If Great Ganondorf doesn't want to enslave the princess like a true King of Evil, what does the Great Ganondorf want to do with the princess?"

"Eh… how? I don't know," I said with a frown. "I'm just doing the Quests so I could see the ending."

"So the Great Ganondorf will do whatever the Quests said?"

"Uh huh," I responded. "Isn't that how I progress the game? If I don't do the Quest, then what do I do in here?"

Assist floated there for a while. "Then is the Great Ganondorf having fun?"

I thought for a moment before blinking. It just did an illogical leap. Only extremely advance NPCs could make such a leap, thus making their memory requirement enormous. Come to think of it, Princess Zelda seemed to very advance. Her thought process as well as behaviors felt very natural for someone of her age and intellect. Whoever created this game must have taken a great consideration into her creation.

"Is the Great Ganondorf having fun?" Assist repeated the question.

"Yep, very," I said. I looked at the cash shop again. Assist was right. Games were created for players to have fun. "I will take this and this… hang on, they all cost 0GP so I will just take them all."

"Great Ganondorf is so greedy, taking all our items without paying us a single GP," Assist said sadly. "We will go bankrupt at this rate."

"What was that?" I asked. I actually felt guilty for a second. Before I could questioned it further, the world swirled around me, and I found myself staring at the menu screen.

 ** _Thank you for using D.E.U.S._**

"Ah shit, time's up," I said before opening my eyes and found myself back in the real, boring world. I yawned loudly while my arms and legs were freed from their constraints. The room was air cooled so I didn't feel sweaty at all – which was a blessing in disguise. When D.E.U.S. was first released, the amount of heat produced was enormous – enough to cook someone alive. Now the heat was used to drive the complex turbines for additional power generation. I stretched my stiffed arms and legs for a little before heading outside.

"When will the next session be available?" I asked Marge. I wanted to return to the Hyrule since I'd just brought a bunch of toys to play with Princess Zelda. I'd leave that your imagination.

Marge smiled at me and checked her holographic screen. I noted that it was actually half an hour passed my allotted time on the clock display, meaning I was in Heroes of Hyrule for a while. I thought the time compression was very high, but I guess that was not the case.

"At 2am to 3am," she answered.

"Ah, can't stay up that late," I said. "Is there no two hours slot?"

"Due to an influx of demand, two hours slot is no longer offered as standard. The next free slot is 10 am to 11am. Ah… it's no longer available," Marge said as she tapped on the console rapidly. "The next one is 3pm to 4pm."

"I'll take it," I said. If I'd idling for too long, someone else would take it. There were thousands of rooms available in this complex alone, but they were constantly booked up. Some room was booked an entirely day so a player could spend years – decades – in their private virtual world.

"Yo!" I called when I reached the waiting area, finding my best buddy watching the massive holographic screen. Another guy was sitting next to him. "Hey Gary, how's school?"

"So you guys were hanging out here. Why didn't you invite me?" Gary said while watching the battle on the scale that he had never seen before. Thousands of players battled against each other with hundreds of thousands NPCs roaming about in the background, giving supports.

 ** _Perfect Conquest_** was the game's name. It was based on the classic Total War series, where battle was fought on incredibly massive scale. And like its popular predecessor, the war game emphasized greatly on empire building with many factions fighting for supremacy across the virtual landscape of medieval earth. Unfortunately at the moment, players would drop in and out during the battle at random, making it very chaotic.

"What? You would skip class to play with us?" I asked skeptically. Gary was a cadet. There were only a few things the academy taught these days. Militarization was more common, but only when you were eighteen. This was because modules for training were too massive to have at home.

"Hell yeah," Gary called out. "I'm not learning anything there anyway, and all the seniors are hanging around here anyway. Also, have you seen my brother? He said he going to meet me here an hour ago. It's already past 10."

"Nope," I said. "Just got out and I'm pretty exhausted."

George eyed me. "Where were you anyway?"

"Was in Heroes of Hyrule," I answered and stretched my arms a bit.

"Hyrule…? Is that a place in Legend of Zelda?" George asked. He was more knowledge in gaming than I was. "That's a really old game; never heard there was a multiplayer version except for that god awful co-op one."

"Nope, single player," I answered. "It's just me against a bunch of NPCs. Killing them wasn't all that fun at all. Even the strongest died in a few hits."

"Lame," George snorted. "What kind of idiot still enjoy single player?"

"I do," Gary said, raising his hand. "CPU is getting very challenging."

"CPU!? Get out of here!" George said and pushed Gary, who was chuckling. After messing about, George faced me and slammed a wide poster on the table. "Hey Jeremy, we should join this game: YGGDRASIL! I heard it's great! You can play as a monster! You get to kill those fucking heroes!"

"Stop signing up to every game you sees!" I said with a sigh. "And I'm going home. You should take my sister home too, wherever she is."

"Uhhhhhh…" George mumbled while I walked away.


	3. Act IV

Thank you for all the reviews. I enjoyed reading them - here's another chapter.

 **Act IV**

"Hello there, beautiful," I greeted Marge with the best charming smile I could give. A full night rest was great for the mind. I felt completely refreshed. She returned an equally charming smile before returning attention back to her console.

"Welcome back, Jeremy," Marge greeted once she finished up whatever she was doing.

"…? Did I tell you my name before?" I questioned. My mind was sharper today.

She gasped at her slipup. "Ah. I'm so sorry… I accidently had a peek at your profile. Please don't tell anyone."

Even though social network became fully integrated into our daily lives, people still took their anonymity and privacy very seriously. To view someone's profile without proper authorization was a crime. Even parents couldn't see their own children's profile without their say so. Yes, it was out of whack, but after a couple got successfully sued by their eight years old who acted as her own attorney, the census was that age had nothing to do with their intellect.

In fact, children absorbed knowledge much faster than adults through neural interface. It had something to do with their developing brain or that adults didn't want to learn new things. Honestly, most parents stuck in the past, constantly recalling about the good old days when they could scold their kids without them being smartass and logical about it.

Intelligent was held in high regard. There were some truly genius out there, able to get out of anything with deduction and reasoning alone. I wasn't one of them – sorry.

"Just a peek, huh?" I teased. She looked flustered. "Heh, don't worry about it. Just so you know, most of the stuffs in my profile are not true. I only fill it in because I was required to do it."

Marge giggled. Filling in falsified information on your profile was not illegal, but it would mess up your future employments and any preferences you may have. You would be offered a job you dislike most or a recommendation that had nothing to do with your personal taste. You could exaggerate what you were best at, however.

She inputted something into her console before directed me to one of the vacant rooms. "Please enjoy your stay, Jeremy."

"I will," I said. I wondered if she was this nice to everyone or just me. "Maybe we could get something to eat later? When do you get off?"

"I'm sorry, I can't," Marge apologized. She looked up at the ceiling and pursed her lips. "We cannot date our customers. But if you have any questions, you can ask me. I will be here."

"Wow, slave drivers, aren't they?" I said and looked up at the dotted ceiling. Cameras were likely in one of those dots or maybe all the dots were cameras. "Do you guys have nothing to do other than spying on your employee all day!?"

Marge giggled at my outburst.

"And I never said it was a date," I said once I leveled my eyes to her, "just a meal between friends."

"I'm sorry, Jeremy, but I cannot leave this spot without authorization," Marge said sadly.

"We could have a meal here," I compromised. She seemed single, and I wasn't too picky.

She smiled at me. "Please enjoy your time in D.E.U.S."

I sighed and accepted the rejection before heading to my allocated cell. I inserted my game card into the slot once I got comfortable in my seat. Like usual, the gizmo within winded up and locked me in place. A tingling sensation ran across the back of my neck before I began to doze off into sleep.

 ** _Welcome to D.E.U.S._**

I stared a screen for a couple of seconds. In that short span of time, the tutorial came up. There was no way to turn it off complete in my personalized setting. I'd checked on the global forum about why that was, and most players speculated that it had to do with legal procedures in case of brain damage – that never happened in the months D.E.U.S. was running with countless of game time hours clocked in by millions players. This was just the gaming community alone, and it wasn't the most popular usage of the system.

"Access Heroes of Hyrule," I said while thinking about the little princess. I had a weird dream about her last night in which she constantly begged me. I felt kind of terrible for what I did to her even though she was just an NPC.

 ** _Heroes of Hyrule not found_**

"Hmmm… not found? Can you search the forum?" I ordered while thinking about the game. The brain conveyed much more detailed request than any form of words could. It was impossible to describe what one was thinking in full detail, and stating a request out loud wasn't necessary at all. But everyone still did so; yelling out attacks just sounded much more epic.

It wasn't fun when you blew away an army without uttering a single word. There were players like that, and there were also players doing weird flashy things before wasting a lot of people.

Since Heroes of Hyrule was not listed officially, the access portal must still be on the global forum. That was odd. Even games in beta phrase were on the game list for better exposure. The forum might get billions of posts every minute, but it was a bad medium to promote products. People posted whatever came to their mind without much thought, and shifting through all the garbage was impossible without the aid of an artificial intelligent.

 ** _No thread relating to Heroes of Hyrule found  
12,566,735,622,123,912 searched_**

"Wow?" I uttered a second later. What with the sheer amount of posts? I was amazed at how incredibly fast a standard AI that everyone had was. A custom made one with avatar was probably much faster and fun to converse with it. They had personalities. Sadly, traits modules needed to create a personalized AI cost a great amount of GP.

"Any close matches to what I had in mind?"

 ** _42 matches_**

I checked them quickly, but it was just rambling nonsense. I guessed the developers deleted their post along with the portal to their server. It was fun playing around in Hyrule, but overall, it wasn't a great game. Maybe it was when I was playing as the hero, exploring dungeon and finding treasures, all while saving the world.

"Oh well," I said and opened a page detailing new releases. I quickly scanned through them. One caught my attention.

 ** _YGGDRASIL_** _(Pop: 23,445,221)_

"23.5 million players!?" I almost chocked. A simple promotion wasn't able to garner that much players in such a short amount of time – words of mouth did. It was likely a very good game, considering the huge population. I was interested immediately; most of my buddies probably on there if George had anything to do with it.

"Access YGGDRASIL."

 ** _Connecting to server…  
Connection established…  
Registration required  
Register?_**

"Yep," I said and thought the same thing. The screen before me flickered while my menu faded away, allowing YGGDRASIL's AI to take over the helm. The screen filled with glittering stars while beneath my feet a world began to form.

The NPC that introduced new player to game – at least me – was a black-haired matured beauty with golden slit eyes. She had two elongated horn protruding from her head while a pair of black and white wings behind her. Much of her accented body was revealed by the thin white dress she had on. She was pretty, but then all avatars were pretty so that weren't saying much.

"My name is Albedo," she greeted politely with a bow, "would master like a quick guide to the world of YGGDRASIL?"

"Sure," I said, interested in the game's lore and ignored the fact that she called me master since it likely was a selling point. Everyone – at least guys – liked to be called master by a goddess. I enjoyed exploring a fantasy world if the lore was exciting enough. "But first, what kind of species are you, Albedo? Are you an angelic devil or devilish angel?"

"I am unfamiliar with those terms. My race is Pure-White Devil," Albedo answered. She leaned closer to me. Her warm breath steamed across my face. If she wasn't a NPC, I would have asked her out without a thought. "If you wish to be part of this race, your affinity must be -500 or lower. It appears that you have a profile card – may I have access to your profile?"

"Yes, you may," I confirmed, wondering what my affinity current was at.

Profile card was a general name for cards that held digital data. Game cards were more common term amongst gaming community. A card recorded saves, personalized inventories, and virtual spaces among other things. They were expensive not because of the card itself, but what they could contained within their circuitry. Imagined what would happen if someone broke a card contained millions of GP or divine items?

Albedo froze up briefly. It was long enough to be noted. She was likely reading my card, accessing my profile to create best recommendation for me.

"A thousand apologies, master," Albedo said apologetically. Her golden eyes saddened as she looked away from me. I could see tears flung in the air before descending towards the world below. Wow! If all of the NPCs were like this, no wonder the game was so popular.

"It appears that you do not have sufficient memories," Albedo said, "please free up some memories. I will be here when you return, my master."

"Huh?" I uttered and opened my private menu. Game card has vast amount of memories to store digital items. The amount they could hold would fit all threads of global forum with plenty of room to spare. I widened my eyes at the free space I had left on the card. "What the fuck..?"

I quickly access task manager and request to see what was taking up so much space. While I did that, was booted from the server as I was taking up a slot. The influx of players must have taxed their servers greatly so I couldn't blame them.

 ** _Heroes of Hyrule:_** 99%

I blinked in confusion at the screen. Heroes of Hyrule took up 99% of my card's memories. For a single save, that was impossible unless the save contained every NPC, their attributes and personalities as well as the world they resided in plus a billion of other things. Basically, for it to take up this much space, the entire game probably was on my game card. That was pushing it since game card wasn't designed to store a game.

"…" I hyperventilated a little as my mind raced. Did I somehow download the entire game onto my game card? If it was a glitch, it was a massive one. "Access Memory: Heroes of Hyrule."

 ** _Accessing memory allocation: Heroes of Hyrule  
High compression detected… decompressing…  
Emulation required… requesting access…_**

My screen flickered for a little while before a two letter appeared on my screen.

 ** _Access Granted_**

The entire room vanished as I began my descended from somewhere high in the sky. Starry night turned into day as my body tumbling through dense clouds. I immediately thrashed about because of the sheer height I was dropped from.

If I crashed onto the ground, it would take forever to find all the pieces of me. Even if it was a game, my fear of height was very much real. My heart thumped rapidly while I threw my hands about, not noticing that the tone of my skin had colorized into green. My very much squishy body grew larger while metallic liquids rolled over my body, morphing into thick armor.

"Shiiiiiitttt!" I screamed as I slammed into the earth, driving up massive amount of dust and rubbles. My body screamed in pain while my bones cracked. I laid there for a moment while my brain bounced about inside my thick skull. "Owww… what the fuck… was that?"

Purplish mist-like streams wrapped and flowed over my frame, magically healing me as I pulled myself out of the several meters deep man size hole I created. I stared at the sky while rubbing my face, pissed.

"Why the fuck did I spawn in the sky?" I shouted skyward.

Spawning in the sky was very odd. SkyDawn spawned players in the sky and let them fall to their deaths without any tutorials. It took almost a day for one player to figure out that he could summon wings and took flight. There were no such summoning in here, and if I wasn't playing as Ganondorf, I might have plastered against the ground.

"Assist!" I then called out. The AI didn't answer despite being requested. "Cash shop!"

 ** _Cash shop is unavailable_**

"Huh?" I raised a brow. I wondered where the little AI went. Did it get saved onto my game card? I hope it did since it was an amusing fairy. I cracked my neck and checked my active Quest.

 ** _Primary Quest: Corrupt the Goddess  
Optional Quest: Eliminate the Sage of Light_**

"Cool, only two lef," I said and teleport to Hyrule and directly into Princess Zelda's chamber. I wanted to mess around with her a bit. It was probably the only fun thing left in this game; having a princess crying and begging in fear was kind of exciting.

I honestly expected that little crying brat, but what I got was a teenager – a young woman. I stared at from behind for moment. Did time in Hyrule still progress while I was logged out? It was unusual for a single player game. "Hello there, beautiful."

Princess Zelda turned around. She looked at me with her widen blue eyes before gasping in fright. She hastily turned and tried to run out of the room, but before she could, I grabbed her neck and slammed her into a nearby wall. She pressed something, triggering some kind of alarm. Footsteps were heard in mass afterward.

"Have you forgotten little princess? Shall I kill a thousand of your people?" I asked as my palm pressed against her mouth. Her eyes glared angrily at me, but she did utter a single whimper like I'd expected her to. I was surprise before I was forced to wince in pain. A sharp blade pierced through my armor despite it protective enchantment. Staggering backwards, pulling myself out of a dagger, dripping bloods along the floor.

"I am not a child any more, Ganondorf!" Zelda said as her magical dagger grew into a sword. It radiated with golden light. Her eyes sharpened as she lurched at me. In shock, I raised my hand to block. My arm was severed with a single slash. The limb flew to the side and bounced multiple times on the floor of the chamber. Blood spurted out my stump – it was incredibly painful.

"Wait!" I called out, but Zelda stabbed me through the chest multiple times, unhindered by my armor at all. Each time I was pierced I gasped in shock, erupting blood from my mouth. The viciousness Zelda was showing was terrifying.

Death loomed over me. I was frightened for a second, believing I was going to die.

"Enough!" I roared as my magical aura exploded. That was not enough to pull her off of me. I used leg to kick her up and away instead. Despite her long dress, she spun in the air and landed on her feet. I flipped upright, causing my health bar to drop significantly. I gripped my chest as blood spurted out between my fingers, drenching my arm. I was in a critical condition.

"I will be back," I said and tried to teleport away to heal.

"You're not going anywhere," Zelda said as the symbol on her hand glowed – two golden triangles while the third remained unmoving. A shimmering dome manifested around us, blocking my escape.

"The tri-force!?" I flabbergasted. I couldn't believe she had three of the tri-forces. I immediately realized that one of the optional quests was missing from before, and that was to open the Sacred Realm. "You opened the Sacred Realm!?"

Princess Zelda didn't response. Instead, she raised her sword high – it was likely the Master Sword from its aura – readying to strike me down. An NPC that could overwhelm a player was not rare occurrence since they tended to be at a much higher level, but for an NPC that wasn't a combatant to begin with defeating a player was unheard of. And on top of that, Zelda seemed to level up an absurd amount from what was indicated by her health and mana bars.

I groaned and gripped my stump. I still feel my hand was there, but I couldn't move it. _A phantom limb phenomenon?_ This felt too real, but my mind told me it wasn't. It was a game, and I wasn't about to let myself lose in a single player game!

"Don't think you can defeat me, little princess," I said and took out a small hourglass from my inventory with my still working hand. I had to heal myself before my health reached zero. I couldn't believe that I had to resort to such tactic in order to win, but Princess Zelda was a boss.

That was really interesting. I had never thought that Princess Zelda was actual an opponent, and actually a really powerful one compared to the trash I'd been blasting away. I supposed her ability was thanked to the power of the tri-force and Master Sword. Otherwise, she would never be able to pierce my armor and deal so much damage to me.

"After I'm done with you, I will burn your Kingdom to the ground," I said and crushed the hourglass in my hand, allowing the sands within to flow between my fingers. "Activate Reversal!"

The one-time cash item activated immediately.

The sands swirled around me while Zelda widened her eyes. She saw my armors mended in an instant. My oozing blood faded away like a memory. She saw my hand on the floor crumpled into dust, and the dust swirled around my stump, reforming my missing limb. My health and mana bar became full again.

"Never seen this kind of magic before, have you?" I gloated. With advances in AI, bosses weren't just a mindless drone who would fight to the death. They had emotions and acted on those emotions. When their health dropped low enough, they would become frightful and likely to escape. It made hunting them down extremely exhilarating.

Would Princess Zelda run when I beat the shit out of her? The dark thought made my aura even more potent. It coated around me, flickering ominously.

Princess Zelda gripped her sword tightly. She had never seen magic that could undo any kind of damage. If such magic exist, there was no way she could win. Despite knowing the odd, her resolve strengthened. The Master Sword's aura glowed brightly as two of her tri-forces empowered it.

"Master Sword sure is powerful," I appreciated it before accessing my inventory. My normal weapons wouldn't be a match against it, but thanked to Assist and Cash Shop, I had plenty of weapons to choose from. I didn't take time to idle about and picked the strongest one. The jagged blade was completely black with red aura surrounding it. It bore an upside down symbol of the tri-force.

"!?" Zelda stared at my weapon.

"Don't think your Master Sword is the only legendary sword in this world, Princess Zelda," I said as my magic infused into my blade.

Ghirahim, the blade in my hand, seemed to recognize the Goddess Sword in Zelda's trembling hands. It growled angrily in my hand, vibrated violently, trying to pull me forwards and strike her. I increased my grip and narrowed the distance in a single step. With a swing along with all the strength I could muster in my towering frame, Princess Zelda was sent slamming into the wall despite her effort to block.

The Master Sword flew out of her hands.

"No… no, I can't," Zelda struggled to pull herself up, but the physical trauma she had suffered was more than her frame could take. She tried to reach her weapon, but I stepped on it while looking down at her, gloatingly.

"You cannot win against me, little princess," I said. I was the hero of the game despite being a villain. It was impossible for me to lose. Players weren't supposed to lose against AI. The only time they did was when the game required them to do so, all in order to progress the story. Even then, they would not die permanently. They would inevitably come back and fight, stronger than ever.

Player would prevail no matter the odds.

"You are not the hero of the story," I said and raised my sword hand. "There is no hero to this story, only me."

Princess Zelda looked down to the floor and closed her eyes, accepting her defeat, but instead of striking her and ending her life, I crashed Ghrahim against the Master Sword without holding back. Golden light burst out from the blade each time I bashed my weapon against it. Eventually, a crack appeared.

The Goddess Sword was breaking under my relentless assault. Even the Sword of Demise was breaking from the recoil.

"Princess, you must not let him destroy the Master Sword," A strange old man called out and blasted me with a beam of light. I took the full brunt of the blast before retaliated without a thought. The energy I unleashed through Ghrahim blasted blew away a section of the chamber.

 ** _Optional Quest: Eliminate the Sage of Light (completed)_**

Since the Sage of Light was a spirit, there were no blood and guts spraying everywhere. Even so, Zelda stared at where he once stood. She gripped her head and screamed aguishly. The last Sage besides her had perished. While she was doing that, I returned to break the Master Sword. Even if it was a legendary item, it could still break if being bashed long enough.

I stopped smashing the sword when I noted that potent magic gathered around Princess Zelda. Two of her tri-forces were glowing brightly as she charging up for an attack. "Hmmm…? Why can't you use all three? Is it because you worship wisdom and courage more than power? Even with all pieces of the Tri-force, you can't beat me so give it up."

I returned to break the master sword while taking out a cash item in my hand, readying to use it. Cash item was pretty much cheating, but since the game was a single player game, there was no restriction on the usage of cash item.

After several more bash, the Master Sword finally shattered in fragments. Little dots of golden lights drifted upwards from the broken blade.

"Hah!" I called out triumphantly before a blast of golden light enveloped the entire room. I crushed the cash item between my fingers before my health could reach zero. The entire landscape of Hyrule shook heavily under the magical assault of the Tri-force. I stood in the golden light yawning, wondering when it would die down. It eventually did, and the top of the castle was vaporized.

"Care to try again?" I asked with smirk victoriously while checking the duration of the effect.

"That can't be…" Zelda uttered in total shock while I stood there, completely unharmed, with a bluish glow around me.

"See this glow? It granted me invulnerability. No form of attack can penetrate this shield. Even with the combine powers of the goddesses, they won't able to even touch me when I'm like this."

Cash item that granted immunity was the most common. It was literally god mode, and to be somewhat fair, the effect only lasted for no more than couple of seconds. A couple of seconds was all needed for a legendry player to solo a powerful monster.

"Not even the combine powers of the goddesses…?" Princess Zelda mumbled as she collapsed to her knees. Hopeless tears ran down her beautiful face. "What are you…?"

"You already know what I am," I said as I reached out my hand towards her. "I am the villain!"

I gripped her neck lightly and lifted her off the ground. She had no will left to fight in her. There was no light in her eyes. I winced as something burn into my skin. I looked at the symbol before chuckling loudly and amusingly.

"Hahah! Even the Tri-force has abandoned you!" I called out as the tri-force of power glowed brightly on the back of my hand.

 **\- to be continued -**

Should Zelda paired with Jeremy? If yes, we will get somewhat a good ending.


	4. Act V (Zelda)

**Act V (Zelda)**

Not even the combined powers of the goddesses could injure him... what was he? There wasn't even a scratch on his armors. It couldn't be. Impossible! I had put everything I had into that last strike and yet he stood, completely uninjured – unfazed. And now he had the Tri-force of power in his hand. Was my faith not strong enough? Had the Goddesses abandoned me… abandoned Hyrule?

No – they could not have! How could they abandon Hyrule? But then why was he here? Why won't they stop him? They did not have the power to stop him? No, no. It couldn't be. It must be me. I must have lacked faith in them so they decided to forsaken me... to forsake us.

Was I the reason for their inaction? Was I the reason for this evil to exist?

Please tell me, Rauru. Please tell me! Please. Where are you? You told me that I would have the power to cleanse Hyrule of all evils if I believed in Goddesses. I believed in them and you… you said you would be by my side… Rauru… where are you?

Why won't you answer? Did you leave me as well?

He was gone, killed by the demon that I couldn't defeat. My mind screamed in torment at his death. My body quaked in anguish. The only person I had left, who cared for me and light my way through the dark times, was gone.

"Father…? Where are you? Impa…? Why did you leave?" I uttered as my throat was constricted under his grip. His fingers pressed against my wind pipe, crushing whatever defiance I had left.

If I died, would Hyrule be freed from him? I looked upwards and at the sky for guidance while my mind slipped away.

"Hoot! Hoot! Please don't cry, princess," an owl called out after it'd flew through the window. It invaded my small corner and landed near my feet. I did not pay any attention it and continued to hold onto my knees – tightly, sobbingly. It had been a few days since my father... left. Impa was not with me anymore. She went with father to a place I wasn't allowed to go. If I tried to go after them, he would hurt father's people.

He would hurt Hyrule.

He was the only person who visited me in these past days. Each time he visited, he forced me to eat the items he brought. I didn't want to eat. But I couldn't stop him. Why won't he leave me alone? I want to be alone. I wanted to see father again. I wanted to see Impa again. But he won't let me.

"You can't be here. Please leave," I asked the owl and sniffled. I couldn't see the creature very well. I couldn't see anything in the room very well despite it was midday. Had it already midday? It was dark when I last looked outside. My eyes were constantly itches. I rubbed them again. "It isn't safe here… it isn't safe anywhere. He will be back... so please go."

The owl twitched its head and pecked my tattered dress. "Please come with me, princess."

"I can't." The owl in my eyes became distorted. The room became distorted. I rubbed my eyes for the umpteenth times. "He won't let me. He won't let me leave. He will never let me leave." The blurriness worsened.

"You have to," the owl hooted and flapped its wings. "All the other sages are gone. Only you and I are left, princess. My life is not important, but if he managed to kill you then all will be lost. You cannot be allowed to fall, Princess. You are too important. You are our – Hyrule's last light."

"He won't kill me," I said and shook my head. He would not kill me. He would not let me see father. The doorknob was turned and the entrance to my bed chamber was opened slowly. I backed away from the door and covered my ears. My body tensed up and convulsed slightly. "Please leave me alone. Please…"

The person standing in the doorway was not him. She closed the door behind her slowly and quietly and dropped to my level. "Princess...? Are you alright? Here, let me have a look at you?"

"No!" I called out and batted her hand away. I grabbed the offending hand. "He will hurt you too! Please leave. Everyone please leave."

"There is nothing he could do more to me, Princess," the maid said and slowly approached me. Her kind eyes were comforting. "A few of us knows that he was the one who took away your father, but we could not denounced him. He has eyes and ears everywhere, but they have become restless since he had not returned."

"He hadn't?" I asked. There was a glimmer of hope. Maybe the Goddesses had strike him down.

"Yes, for two days now," the maid whispered softly. "Retributions must have fallen upon him; may the Goddesses have mercy on his soul."

"Then he has been vanquished?" I asked. For the first time in days, I could see the room clearly.

"Hoot! Hoot!" the owl called out and shook its head. "The Great Evil that is Ganondorf has not been vanquished, but I cannot see where he is. He simply disappeared from Hyrule – disappear from the world. I looked into the heaven to see, but the stars did not say. One thing for sure: he will return."

"If that the case then you must take this chance to escape, princess," the maid hushed me. She gripped my hand gently and patted it. "And you must hurry. His servants have started to wander about on their own. Some of us have disappeared. Even if he doesn't return, this place will be unsafe."

"But –

"Please Princess. As long as we know you are safe, our sacrifices will not be for nothing," she said with a sad smile. "We will use what we have to stall them, knowing that one day you will return here to your home and expelled the wicked. We will wait for that day no matter how long it will be."

"No, I can't leave you here! He will kill you if I leave!"

"It's alright, princess," the maid embraced me. For a moment, my body was at ease. No sound could be heard. "It would be our honor to keep you safe; to keep Hyrule safe. You are our light, and no evil could take away that light."

"I'm… your light?"

"Yes, princess," the owl said and gestured one of its wings towards the window. "Without a hero, it is up to you to be the light. You must not yield to darkness no matter what. The Goddesses are watching you, and they will only help those that have the courage, wisdom and power to deliver Hyrule from evil."

"They are watching me?" I moved closer to the window and looked up at the bright blue sky. There were three twinkling stars above, shining brightly at me. They gave me hope.

And even when I escaped the castle and begun collecting the remains of the Sages and sought out the everlasting light, the three stars in the heaven continued to watch me. The Goddesses never stopped watching me even when all the other gods sailed across the heaven into unknown horizon. Knowing that gave me courage and power needed to complete my journey. And with the spirits of the Sages guiding me, I opened the Sacred Realm and obtained the legacy of the Goddesses.

"The Tri-force can extinguish all evil wherever they might be, Princess," Rauru told me. He was the Sage of Light and also the last person to stand by my side. Everyone else I'd cared about was gone, killed by his hand or his minions. They infested Hyrule and tormented the populace.

"I hate him," I said, gripping the Master Sword. The mythical blade in my hand was once known as the Goddess Sword. Even imbued with the essence of the Goddesses during the time of Hylia and the first hero, it was still a Goddess Sword. I calmed myself and rid myself of the negative feeling. "Am I worthy to wield the light?"

"The Master Sword has always belonged to you, Princess Zelda," Rauru said with a smile as he watched the once glorious Hyrule castle in the distance. "You might have lent it to the hero before the creation of Hyrule in order to aid him against his foes. It only befitting now that it aid you now in your endeavor. As long as you believe, the darkness will not win against the light."

"As long as I believe," I said and held the sword against my chest and looked at the sky and prayed. "I believe in the Goddesses. I will free my people."

The three stars high above in the sky glowed bluish under my tearful eyes while I gasped for air. Strange light trickled down from above, seemingly protecting him from all harm. The Goddesses wasn't the one watching over me, protecting Hyrule. My heart dropped. They were musing at my struggles, knowing it was pointless – and now, after all these years, he had returned, unchanged as if time had not passed for him.

He had not aged a single day. He couldn't be a deity, could he? No, he couldn't be. If he was a deity, why put up with this charade? If he was a deity, the Goddesses should have prevented him from taking any action. Perhaps they did. That was why he was gone for so many years.

"Kill me…" I croaked lowly. If he was an evil deity and impervious to the Goddesses' power, there was no salvation for Hyrule. No matter how much I struggled, I would not able to vanquish a deity. No power in the world could. "Please… please free me from this nightmare."

A gasp escaped my throat as my lungs were filled with air. I fell to the floor while gripping my throat, coughing heavily. "Why won't you? Why?"

"No, no, little princess," he responded as he towered over me, dominatingly. "As much as I want to end your suffering, I cannot. I must corrupt you without killing you. That is the only way I can win the game. I have never lost before, and I wasn't about to lose one now."

Game!? This was all a game to him? How could my life – the lives of my father and people – be a game to him!? A great pressure ruptured through me, pressing down my chest, suffocating me. This feeling – never before I despised someone so much that my entire body quivered in rage. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to rip him to shred – I want to –

Pieces of debris bounced towards me. I turned my head as he crouched next to me. "Hate me, despise me. For a supposedly wise and benevolent Goddess to despise a person with all her being, she had truly fallen."

I had fallen? No! I must not let darkness into my heart – yet – I could not stop myself. The rubbles under my fingers damped as droplets continued to fall. "Please kill me."

"I told you I won't. That would be game over," he said and wrapped a hand under my chin. "A princess shouldn't cry all the time. A princess should act like a princess, high and mighty. And the higher you are, the more fun it is to tear you down."

His smile – his devious smile! – repulsed me. I batted his hand away with all the strength I had. "If I die then it game over?"

"Yep, so be a good girl and stay alive?"

The two Tri-forces glowed brightly in my palm. I channeled its power and blasted him away from me. He was shocked at first, but grinned at my feeble attempt to kill him. I knew I did not have the power to kill him so I did not try again. Even if I could kill him, he would likely come back to life again. I moved closer to the ruined ledge and looked at the Kingdom my father had ruled. I had ruled Hyrule for half a year, and perhaps it was enough.

"Please forgive me," I apologized to Hyrule and stepped off the ledge, resigned.

"Zelda!?" he shouted. I looked at the shock on his face before closing my eyes. Sharp pain ran through my body seconds later and then total darkness – calming darkness.

But the darkness did not stay with me for very long. Sacred flames burned through my flesh, pulling me from the depth of death and forcibly pried open my eyes. He was holding an object between his fingers while focusing his eyes intently. It was a small staff, plastered in black and white. Even death could not protect me from his grasp.

Was there anything could?

"For making me waste a resurrection totem," he pronounced with grimness in his eyes. He then raised his fingers towards the sky as ominous dark cloud began to swirl. Lightings began to fell upon Hyrule like rain. Explosions rocked the land. "This is the price your people will pay."

"Noooo! Please!" I shouted desperately, but the wailing of the people overshadowed mine. Thousands of lives were extinguished in seconds – yet lightning did not strike him down.

"Please, Lord Ganondorf. Please have mercy," an old man – an elderly father of two – groveled before the throne, pleading desperately. His pleads went on deaf ears. "Princess, you must say something. We are your – ahhh!"

"They all say the same thing," Ganondorf said dryly and retrieved his hand. He circled the throne while shaking his fist. "At least tell me a different reason."

I stared at the smoking remain that once was a man while remained seated. His two children cowered in fright, hugging their mother. All three tearful faces should have horrified me, yet my expression did not change. Even if I mustered all my strength to help them, they would still be killed. No matter what I do, I was a mere caged bird, only capable of witnessing atrocities committed.

"No changes to her stats at all?" Ganondorf growled as if he was checking something in the air. He was always checking something. "Maybe I should kill more people? Shall I kill more people, princess?"

"Why don't you end those three," I suggested coldly, glancing only briefly at the frightful family. If living was that hard then death was a merciful release. At least they would all be together in a better world – a much better fate than mine.

"Wow… that's kind of cold, really cold. Those two are just kids, you know," he mocked and ran a finger down my unmoving, stoic face. His hand gripped my cheeks lightly and turned me towards him. I looked at him, unblinkingly. "Damn. It seems that this method doesn't sway your heart anymore. Maybe I will try something else. What will make you horrify the most?"

I did not answer. I just stared at him blankly. Nothing would move my expression anymore. No matter how much of my people he killed before me, I would not give him the satisfaction.

"The silence treatment, huh?" he deadpanned and shook his head. He placed a hand on my shoulder and forced me to stand up. I did as he requested like a doll without a soul. His eyes scanned over me over and over again. "You're really are beautiful – just too bad that you're just an NPC. You could be a celebrity if you weren't – then you would be an outlet for all the idiotic kids."

NPC – it was an unfamiliar term. Every now and then he called me that. I assumed it was some kind of insults or belittlement. Either way, it was no concern. He could call me whatever he wanted and it would make no difference.

"I know you feel fear," he said and rubbed his chin, "but do you feel shame?"

When he gripped my chest, my muscles stiffened, stopping myself from uttering a single sound. He gave them a squeeze, gauging my reaction. My hands and legs trembled despite my effort to stop myself. He removed his hand and touched my face, clearing the beads of liquids that dampened my cheek. A crack had appeared.

"So you do feel shame, Princess Zelda," he said, taking a very long scrutiny. He then smiled faintly at me before snapping his fingers and placed his hands upon my person. His touches sent distasteful tremors through every fiber in my body. "Good. Let's have fun."

I swallowed and closed my eyes, squeezing out all the tears pooled in my eyes as he increased his grip onto my gender. With a yank, my clothes were torn apart. I tried my best not to cover myself, but it was impossible to be completely detached. He was a monster, and there was nothing a monster wouldn't do – but if precious maidenhood could distract him from killing more of my people then endured, I would.

"No screams? Not even a whimper?" he asked as if he was disappointed. "Before that, let's make some memory."

Nightmarish memories – he meant.

Seconds passed, minutes arrived as I stood there, barely covering myself. He did not do anything further than gazed upon my flesh, taking great time to capture each part of my body, committing them into his deranged mind. He then gripped my arm and turned me towards the doorway. It was opening as he did so. His followers dragged several men into the room. I recognized each and every one of them. They had served my father and protected me since I was a little girl. To see the shock on their pale faces shattered my frozen disposition.

"Princess! Princess!" the men called out and dropped to their knees; their tears mirroring mine. "Please forgive us! We could not protect you. How could we face your father now?"

"This brought tears to my eyes," he said – almost sincerely – before clapping his hands. "Alright, you can be with your princess one last time."

A small, almost inaudible gasp escaped my lips as I was pushed down the step. I fell onto the red carpet while the former guards rushed to me, crying. Their wailings overlapped one another.

Clattering of his boot echoed around the room. He seated onto the throne and exhaled a deep breath as if he was readying an internal monolog. "You have all been working very hard, keeping the people from doing stupid things. I am extremely grateful for not have to wipe out thousands of people. So for your effort, Princess Zelda will comfort you all right here and now. Take your time. There is no need to rush."

"What…?" I uttered as I understood.

"You monster!" the men roared angrily. I couldn't stop all of them from rushing up the steps.

Ganondorf lowered his palm once he'd created two more ashen spots. He gestured his fingers along the air. "Is your loyalty makes you all hot-headed? Think about it for a moment. If you won't do it then I will have your precious princess comfort my men instead. They would not be as gentle as kind as you. Even if they tore her body apart, I could always put her back together with little effort. So what will it be?"

 **– To be continued –**

* * *

Whether they do it or not, it will not be written, because rape is a special kind of evil and likely piss off quite a lot of people. You can use your imagination to see how it went if they actually did. His thought on the matter in the next chapter will be disturbing enough.


	5. Act V (Jeremy)

**Act V (Jeremy)**

Watching the scene about to play out – a beautiful princess being forced by a demon (me) to comfort her knights with her body – reminded me of those smuts that had been circulating in the social network for a while now. Everybody was connected to the social network whether they were young or old, rich or poor, black or white, heinous criminal or upstanding citizens. Each person had a unique voice, and with their voice, they could broadcast whatever they desired. It was a freedom of speech. And as long as there was an audience, those that willing to follow and listen, their voice would spread like wildfire in the heat of summer.

Trending as it was once called.

And with the increased use of virtual realities, many previously unheard voices became loud and clear, garnering much attention. The ability to simulate whatever they wanted was the best outlet for their fantasies. Their imagination brought to life by the digital world. Stories that were once thought as mere self-fulfillment became a self-contained virtual reality through extrapolation and interpretation.

Why watch a movie when you could live inside the movie, interacting with all the characters as if they were real, living people? Why bother reading a book when you could explore the wonders held within the pages and experienced things beyond the text? Why follow a preset plot of a game when you could create your own personalized destiny – be the hero unlike any other?

These were a few things promised by D.E.U.S. since the beginning of its deployment – and so far, it had done well to keep its promise, producing some astounding results. With its simulator, possibly denoted by the fourth letter in its title, a user could live in a world of his or her dream, where each choice they made would affect the world in a profound way.

Gaming had never been the same again after its inception, but the gaming community was minor one despite having more than a couple of billions active players worldwide. The major user of D.E.U.S. was in fact a member of the adult industry. That particular community was the largest, comprising most of the world's population. Adults, after all, were the majority in every era to date – and **_every_** adult could be a gamer as well, taking a part of both communities.

The same could not be said in reverse for most gamers were under the legal age.

Basically, D.E.U.S. was mostly used for porn, where artificial intelligent (AI) it constructed and simulated were the stars. They could be produced seamlessly in a virtual environment, and their looks and feels was beyond what a real life could ever hope to match. Their memories and personalities as well as their upbringings and cultures could be crafted with so much background details that they believed they were real – sadly, they weren't. They were artificial created for one purpose and one purpose only.

That was to serve their creator unquestioningly.

Sexual releases – distastefully if I may add – were the most popular usage for AI. Having a slave princess pleasing your every whim was all horny teenagers' fantasy since the 20th centuries. It had something to do with that popular space saga that spanned dozen of episodes.

Some idiotic kids went as far as modeling AI after their family members in appearance and mannerisms before sharing their bizarre sexual innuendos on the social network. Things inevitable leaked if shared on the network no matter how private. Controversies soon followed. But in the end, most of us agreed that artificial intelligent weren't real people and should not be treated as such. There was absolutely no harm in abusing them as they weren't alive to begin with.

She wasn't real – wasn't alive. And she should not be treated as a real person. She was an AI – a virtual construct simulated by D.E.U.S.

She was without a soul. That was an undeniable fact. The church would definitely side with me. And no matter how much she believed it, it did not make it so. All she knew from the day she was born to this very moment was crafted by someone from their imagination.

I took in another deep breath as I stared down at the princess and her protectors. "If you don't entertain me soon, I will find other ways to entertain myself, Princess Zelda. And you would not like what I have in mind."

Zelda held her nakedness, tightly; tremblingly. Her dulled eyes remained fixated on the carpet.

Eyeing those that surrounded her, I formed a smile – a devious one. "This is a chance in a life time. To be in the embrace in the warm bosom of a beautiful goddess, even I am swayed – are you not at all? Be a man and take –

"We will not, and don't temp us, monster!" the men bellowed while shielding Zelda from my view. From their age, anyone of them could be her fatherly figure. They were all long past their youth and ability to handle a sharp blade well. Even if they had a sword in their hand, it would not do them any good against me.

Magic was might. That was true in almost every game.

Raising my hand, I pointed two fingers at the men that once sworn to protect Hyrule with their all. That thought had made me snickered a little. If they did do their duty, they would have fought me to a bitter end. But they'd surrendered and became my prisoners instead. They were nothing more than a bunch of cowards. Only when they realized that I would not let them live, they decided to die an honorable death.

What other choice did they have?

"I am touched," I mocked. "To see you all show such conviction – such devotion – such love. Where was that when I imprisoned your princess and took over the Kingdom? Where was that when she endured my torture, begging me to spare your miserable lives? You abandoned her when she needed you the most, hiding like cowards. I should have turned each of you to dust right now. But –

They fisted their hand tightly. Anger flared in their eyes. On the other hand, Zelda lowered her head. She must had known, but decided to believe in them. Everyone she knew had died yet they weren't.

"But I am not completely heartless. I will let you enjoy this last moment. If you truly love Princess Zelda then prove it to me. Show her your unconditional love," I suggested. I felt a bit nauseated when I urged them. They were as old as her father for god-sake. It was like asking a father to rape his own daughter. If the King was still alive – maybe that was a better choice. I could resurrect him with a totem and force –

No!

What am I thinking? That would be going too far.

Actually this was already kind of going too far, but I ran out of quick ideas. There was only one quest left on my list, and that was to corrupt the goddess – Zelda. I wanted to finish this game quickly and see the ending, but no matter what I'd done in the last few days, she would not succumb. Despite her growing colder and more distance each day, her affinity had not dropped below neutral status.

Princess Zelda didn't even bat an eye when I killed people in front of her anymore. That forced me to resort to another method.

I honestly didn't want to pull the rape flag as it was suggested in the description of the Quest. Breaking her mind and body was a way to corrupt her spirit. Tempting her with powers was another way, but that would take far too much preparation – years of planning – and it might not work with her being the light and all. Getting her to commit genocide was suggested, but the likelihood of that happening was very low.

Tricking her into committing lesser heinous crime such as murders could work. Even if she was the most refined AI I had ever seen, she was still an AI, governed by a set of rules. If I understand the rules, I could force her into making a logical error (mistake) but then I had to study her thoughts and behaviors very, very closely. With her being stoic, it was impossible to do so.

So rape flag was my last resort – for now. If that failed, I will probably log out for the day and rethink my strategy. I sighed and hardened my conscience. It was just a game, and any game could be beaten.

"If you don't, there are plenty of others people who will. In fact, my men have been restless because they weren't allowed to harm the populace without my say so. I could only hold them back for so long before they find a place to release their bottled up stress. Wouldn't that be a sight?"

Curses flew at me. It was to be expected. I ignored them and focused on Zelda.

"I," Zelda eventually spoke. Her tone was low – quiet. She closed her eyes and slowly lowered her hand, letting all to see what a blooming flower she had become. I would be lying if I said I didn't stare. "I rather give it to you. It will be something that he could never steal from me, so… so… please… please allow me to repay… repay the kindness… you all has shown."

I arched a brow as she lowered her head. Her body trembled. She was referring to her purity. I'd taken her innocence, her happiness, her childhood, her light, her family, her friends, her hope, her dream, her faith – actually, I kind of lost track of what I had taken, but I knew for sure I had not taken her purity. I wasn't interested in banging an AI no matter how gorgeous they looked. The act would feel very real –indistinguishable to reality – but in my mind, I would know it wasn't.

"Princess…" the men called out, tearfully. They backed away from her as she tried to reach out to one of them to do what I wanted. I tensed up every time she attempted it.

"You don't have to do this," the men pleaded. "Please don't do this."

"Yes, she does," I retorted, a tad annoyed at their interruption. It was so close, damn it! I wanted to see how far she could fall – despicable, yes I know. "If she doesn't, I will let my men pillage and rape Hyrule until there is not a single person left alive. Your precious princess is doing the best she could to keep most of your people alive – including giving up the only thing she has left. How dare you refuse? Are you men?"

"Princess! He will kill all of us even if you did. It's only when," one of them said. "How could I face your –

"Stop ruining my fun," I said and turned him into a pile of smoking ash. Their sentiments were getting to me. A few men tried to charge up the stair afterward. Tried was the objective word. One actually made to the bottom step. "If you don't want to go to heaven then get lost."

I sighed and hammered my fist on the armrest. "I had enough of this. Bring them in!"

The old men flinched when deep groaning could be heard behind them. Monstrous creatures entered the throne room from the other end, causing them to tense up. The thought of such creature defiling their precious princess was frightful enough. I could see what was going on in their mind through their ghastly expression.

Unfortunately, I didn't want to go that far – just yet – probably ever. These creatures could literally tear a person apart effortlessly. She would die long before they actually penetrate her. So instead, dragging along with them were dozens of criminals, who desperately needed to take a long shower. Flies were buzzing around their bushy hair and beard.

The criminals looked at me as I sat on the throne before eyeing the princess. Her flesh was immediately shielded by her hands and bodies of protectors. She must have known them from the exchange. They muttered to each other while grinning wildly, lecherously. It seemed that not everyone in Hyrule was a good, upstanding person, and most of them were imprisoned by her.

Zelda must have given them a second chance, believing they would redeem themselves – how naïve. I checked their affinity when I trashed the dungeon. They were pure evil.

"I am your humble servant, King Ganondorf," one of them said, kneeling deeply. The other followed his direction and did the same, even more deeply. He seemed to be the leader of this group from what the way he had conducted himself.

"Of course you will," I said with a smile. King huh? I then gestured my hand towards Princess Zelda. "For your oath of servitude, I will allow you to take your overdue revenge. The princess will belong to the first man who is able to claim her."

A few widened their eyes, and hastened to their feet before turning towards the princess. They looked at her protectors and grinned devilishly. No need to explain what actually went in their mind. It did not take long them to roar and charge, resulting in a messy brawl against the old men. With their numbers, they managed to break through. And without a pause, they pounced on Zelda, throwing her against the carpet with their sheer weight alone.

"Do not touch her with your filthy hands!" the old men bellowed and tried to reach their princess, but they were quickly overpowered. They reached out their hands towards their princess while they were being beaten to death, quite brutally. The last thing they saw was Princess Zelda being held down. Her eyes stared at them, pleadingly.

"Princessss! Princessss!" they called out with regret while I tapped my finger agitatedly. Was this really necessary? I wondered.

"Hold her down, you bastards," the leader demanded. His roughed hand gripped her breast, relishing in their softness no doubt. His other hand held onto her thigh, feeling her smooth skin. "It has been a while since I have a cunt. Did you miss me, princess? I'll show you what it feels to be my woman. Hehehehe."

Princess Zelda didn't say anything. She did not need to. One of her legs was a good enough response. I chuckled when Zelda kneed him in the balls. He immediately wailed in pain and rolled across the carpet as his men watched in shock.

Sadly, he recovered too quickly. He must have plenty of experience in that department.

"I told you to hold the bitch down," he growled angrily at his men. He then pressed his weight on top of her while fumbling his pant. His other hand was gripping her neck. "You know what everyone called you now, princess? They called you the accursed princess. You have only brought pain and sufferings. They were much happier when you had disappeared. The people you cared so much about turned their back against you! And now you're nothing more than a common whore."

He tried to claim his prize again, but something else interrupted him. This time, a knife went through his throat. The wielder was one of his men.

"You… you!" he croaked, holding his neck. His attire was quickly washed in red. Despite being surprised at the latest turn of event, I expressed no emotion while the leader chocked on his blood. His finger was pointing directly at his murderer, who managed to produce a deadly weapon when no one was looking.

I didn't notice it either since my mind was too preoccupied. It seemed like there were no honor amongst criminals after all. Why would there be? Besides, there was only one princess, and her beautiful features were enough to make them fall over heel. I would have too – already had – sort of.

AI – why must they looked so attractive?

"Hold her down," the one with the knife barked. The others men grudgingly obeyed him after witnessing their former leader being slaughtered like a dog. This time they held her arms and legs. She did not utter a single word when they spread her private. Her blue eyes, however, looked up at me as she was about to be penetrated by those that she honestly believed could change.

Those hateful eyes bothered me. I wondered what she was thinking. I was sure that she was cursing me, yet her face looked so… so… I swallowed the lump in my throat and decided to speak up. "There is only one Princess Zelda in all of Hyrule. If you don't take this chance and claim her, you will definitely regret it."

The men looked up at me. I reciprocated with a small smile. Some of them seemed to understand and attacked the one with the knife before he could devour his prize. They overwhelmed him while a few of them got stabbed and bled profusely. Once they managed to slit his throat, savagely, they quickly turned on each other.

There was only one Princess Zelda, and she was worth fighting for – in a manner of speaking.

Shouts and painful screams echoed in the throne chamber for several long minutes while Princess Zelda pulled herself off the floor, shakily. She could only stare at what was happening around her. Hylian – no, they were like beasts, fighting over the chance to ravage her body.

Were the people she was protecting? That was likely what she was thinking.

I watched the last man bashed the head of another into one of the marvelous marble pillar, giving it a horrendous coat of paint. He panted heavily and wiped the blood off his face. He then turned towards his prize, grinning madly, but his victory did not last long. He gurgled on his own blood. The last thing he saw was the princess holding a bloodstained knife. Her beautiful blond features were dyed in red.

"Ahahahahahaha," I laughed on the throne when a notification popped up in my mind.

 ** _Primary Quest (updated): Corrupt the Goddess_**

"I thought you would lay there and let them have their way with you, princess," I jested as I got off the throne and strolled down the steps. I was ecstatic as her affinity had dropped below neutral. The first step was always the hardest. "But I guess I was wrong. For you to kill your own people in cold blood, I am very impressed. Congratulation is in order. Welcome to the dark side."

She did not response. She just stood there, looking at her own cold reflection upon the red pool under her bare feet. Blood were dripping off the made-shift knife in her hand. As I got closer, she snapped – physically and mentally – and jumped at me, but I gripped her assaulting hand with my left and gripped her throat with my right.

"So scary, princess; don't you know what happen if you try to attack me?" I asked and lifted her off the ground. She'd weighted almost nothing. Had she not been eating properly? When she tried to kick me, I increased my grip's strength and choked her into unconsciousness before dropping her onto the floor. I then leaned over and looked at her unmoving, naked form. I admitted she was quite a looker even when drenched in blood.

Was that creepy?

"Doesn't she care about her people anymore?" I questioned and feel a chill running down my spine. If Zelda no longer cared about Hyrule's wellbeing then my threat was meaningless. She would try to attack me at every turn. Maybe I should call it quit for the day and rethink my strategy? Yes, I should.

"Lobby," I mumbled lowly.

 ** _Unknown Error_**

"Hah? What you mean unknown error?" I asked and opened the menu in my mind. I requested to be return back to the lobby manually through the drop box, but the same message hovered in my mind.

 ** _Unknown Error_**

"Eh? What the fuck!?" I growled and open my contact list to ask for help. It was only then that I noticed every name were all grey out. Not a single person on my list was online. That was impossible unless…

 ** _D.E.U.S. cannot be connected at this time  
Please try again later_**

"…? What!?"


End file.
